Animal Carcass Pricing Grid. Evidences from the Romanian Pigmeat Market

Until the introduction of SEUROP system, price negotiation between pig producers and slaughterhouses was based on two subjective criteria: animal weight and visual inspection of the quality of pigs. To ensure producers a fair payment, European Union created the possibility of binding the price on two objective factors: carcass weight and carcass composition. This paper describes the pricing mechanism developed by Romania in order to respond to European Union requirements for ensuring a fair payment to pig producers. It raises the attention on the difficulties encountered by the producers in understanding the way the commercial value of a pig carcass is calculated in case the selling price is negotiated on a flat rate basis or on a lean content basis (per kg of carcass weight or per kg of live weight).